A fact check Kaiser Health News / PolitiFact says that the claim that it is time to return to normal is false.

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The claim that it is time to give up precautionary measures is contrary to current public health strategies.

(Rick Egan | Photo Tribune file) Utah Jazz fans wear masks at the Vivint Arena for the NBA action between the Utah Jazz and the Dallas Mavericks, January 29, 2021. A check on Kaiser Health News concludes, no, it’s not time to return to normal.

| February 23, 2021, 9:36 p.m.

| Updated: 9:48 p.m.

This story was produced by Kaiser Health News in partnership with PolitiFact.
A popular Facebook and blog post by conservative host Buck Sexton claims that scientific research shows that life should return to normal now, despite the persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is what everyone’s science says honestly: open schools, stop wearing masks outside and everyone at low risk should start living a normal life. Not next fall or next year – now “, it is shown in the blog post, posted on Facebook on February 8.

The post was reported as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat fake news and misinformation in News News. (Read more about PolitiFact’s partnership with Facebook.)

KHN-PolitiFact sent a message to Sexton via its Facebook page to ask if it could provide evidence to support the statement, but received no response.

So I looked at the scientific evidence and talked to public health experts about Sexton’s post. In general, they disagreed, mentioning the ways in which it contradicts current public health strategies.

Let’s take it point by point.

“Opening schools”

In March, when the government and public health leaders realized that the new coronavirus was spreading in the United States, many public institutions – including schools – were ordered to close to prevent further spread. A large number of students completed the spring semester 2020 remotely. Some jurisdictions have chosen to reopen schools in the fall of 2020 and spring of 2021, although others have remained remote.

During the pandemic, researchers studied whether personal learning in schools contributes significantly to the spread of COVID-19. The results showed that if schools in K-12 adhere to mitigation measures – masking, physical distancing and frequent hand washing – then there is a relatively low risk of transmission.

Bringing children back to class is also a high priority for the Biden administration.
In a February 3 White House press briefing, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the data suggests “schools can reopen safely.” The CDC issued guidance on Feb. 12 on how schools should approach reopening. Recommends standard risk mitigation measures, as well as universal masking, tracking contacts, creating cohorts or student learning pods, conducting tests, and monitoring community transmission of the virus.
Susan Hassig, an associate professor of epidemiology at Tulane University, said science shows that schools can open safely if “mitigation measures are implemented and maintained in the school space.”

Here are some of the most recent research on these positions:

  • Only seven COVID-19 cases out of 191 were followed in the school spread across 17 K-12 schools in rural Wisconsin, which had a high level of clothing and were monitored in the fall 2020 semester.
  • Researchers in Mississippi found that most coronaviruses in children and adolescents were associated with gatherings outside households and a constant lack of use of masks in schools, but not only associated with school attendance or child care.
  • Thirty-two cases were associated with school attendance in 100,000 students and staff members in 11 schools in North Carolina, where students were forced to wear masks, practice physical distance, and wash their hands frequently.

Of course, there are some limitations of these studies, which are often based on contact tracking, a process that cannot always identify the origin of cases. Some of the studies also rely on self-reporting of mask wear by individuals, which may be inaccurate.

In addition, Hassig pointed out that not all school districts have the resources, such as physical space, staff or high-quality masks, to open safely.

Sexton’s claim that schools can reopen leaves aside a key piece of information: the fact that reopening safely depends largely on the use of mitigation measures that have been shown to prevent the virus from spreading.

“Don’t wear masks outside anymore”

Because the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is relatively new, research on the use of the mask outdoors is limited. But so far science has shown that masks prevent the transmission of the virus.

The CDC study published Feb. 10 reported that a medical procedure mask (known as a surgical mask) blocked 56.1% of simulated cough particles. A cloth mask blocked 51.4% of the cough particles. And the effectiveness increased to 85.4% if a cloth mask was worn over a surgical mask.
Another experiment in the study showed that a person in a mask emits fewer aerosol particles that can be transmitted to an unmasked person. And if both are masked, then the exposure to aerosols in both is reduced by more than 95%. A multitude of reports also show more generally that wearing a mask is effective in reducing the risk of spreading or catching other respiratory diseases.

However, Sexton’s post recommended that people stop wearing masks outside. Certainly, public health experts agree that the risk of coronavirus transmission is lower outdoors than indoors. But experts have also said that this does not mean that people should stop wearing masks.

“The wind might help you out a little, but you’re still in danger of breathing this virus from people around you,” said Dr. Rachel Vreeman, director of the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at Icahn Mountain School of Medicine. Sinai. .
Being out “is not a guarantee of safety,” reiterated Stephen Morse, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University Medical Center. “Especially when those people without masks are close.”
The CDC addressed the issue of whether masks are needed outside of the agency’s mask guide: “Masks may not be needed when you are alone, away from others, or with other people living in your household. However, some areas may have mask warrants while in public, so please check the rules in your local area. ”

In general, the predominant scientific opinion is that, although it may be okay to go out without a mask if you are physically away from others, wearing a mask is still recommended if you are around others.

“Everyone at low risk should start living a normal life”

All the public health experts I consulted agreed that this part of the statement is absolutely false. Fly in the face of what scientists recommend should be done to get over the pandemic.

Although it is not clear what exactly low-risk posting means to people, suppose it refers to younger or unhealthy people who make them more vulnerable to COVID-19. And that “living a normal life” refers to not wearing masks, physical distancing or washing your hands more often.

News reports and scientific evidence show that bars, parties and other large gatherings can quickly become more widespread events. Moreover, even young people and those without pre-existing health conditions became seriously ill with or died from COVID-19.

Even if a low-risk person does not get seriously ill, they could infect others in higher-risk groups.

The feeling of this post is similar to the calls from the beginning of the pandemic to let life return to normal, in an attempt to obtain the herd’s immunity. But on the road to achieving that goal, many would die, said Josh Michaud, associate director for global health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

“Everyone who returns to ‘normal’ right now, especially in the presence of more transmissible and more lethal variants, would be a recipe for other public health disasters, in addition to what we have already experienced,” he added.

Nearly half a million Americans have already died from COVID-19.

The push to “get back to normal” is exactly what allowed the new variants to form and multiply, Vreeman said. “If we can vaccinate people and wear masks in the meantime, only then will we have a chance to get back to ‘normal.'”

Indeed, due to new variants circulating in the US, Walensky and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, urged Americans not to relax their efforts to control the spread of the virus.

Conservative host Buck Sexton’s blog post claims that scientific evidence shows that we should now “open schools, stop wearing masks and all low-risk people should start living normal lives.”

Scientific research shows that in order for schools to reopen safely, risk reduction measures must be implemented, such as the need for masks, rigorous hand washing and limiting the number of students in classrooms. These changes, however, would not represent a return to normal, but a new normal for students and teachers.

The rest of Sexton’s statement goes further than current science. Research indicates that you are safer outdoors than indoors, but public health experts still recommend wearing masks in public, even outdoors. Science does not support the idea that it is the right time for some people to resume life normally. This would allow the virus to continue to spread and have a high human cost in hospitalizations and deaths, experts said.

Sexton’s post is inaccurate. We rate it False.

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